Whether you work for yourself, or are an employee, there are always benefits to being productive. If you have your own business, time is money and you will want to be able to get as much done in as little time as possible. Perhaps you work a 9 to 5 job and you want to avoid taking work home with you each day. Whatever your reason for wanting to be more productive at work, these tips can help you do just that!

Stay off social media

Time sapping social media can drag you into minutes of scrolling that soon turn into hours. Many people don’t realise just how long they spend looking at social media sites, but even a few minutes can be enough to distract you, interrupt your concentration, and make it harder to get back to the task at hand. Impose a self-ban on all social media during working hours and turn off your cell unless it is essential for work.

Organise your sleep

This may sound ridiculous, but there are studies that show how organising your sleep patterns can make you more productive. Some examples may seem a little extreme, like the Da Vinci Sleep Pattern and Method that involves sleeping on multiple occasions during a 24-hour period. This will prove difficult for those in full-time employment, but it could be achievable for people who are self-employed. The theory is that people are most productive on waking and that by increasing the amount of times you are rested then wake, you are increasing the occasions you can be productive. It is important to recognise that this is not suitable for all people, and as each person’s body has different sleep requirements you may want to test this when you don’t have important tasks to carry out, or need to drive.

Take breaks

Working for long stretches can lead to a decline in the standard of your work, as your concentration will wane and your mind tire. Ensure you take plenty of breaks, especially away from the computer screen, to rest your eyes and your mind. Every so often, walk away from the screen and make a coffee, go for a walk or just sit and relax.

Use your commute wisely

Although a packed train makes it difficult to do anything but pray for the journey to end, if you do find a seat, you can be using your time to do some prep before work. Check and respond to emails, go through your diary for the day ahead, and schedule meetings all before you even reach the office. The time you would usually spend looking out the window or scrolling though memes is vital time you could be used to be productive.

Think twice about meetings

Could this conversation be done via email, and in this meeting an excuse to eat cookies and gossip over coffee? If you don’t see the benefit of proposed meetings, try saying no. There is point attending a meeting when you could be ploughing through your workload so consider whether that meeting really needs you in attendance.